CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In front a boisterous crowd of over 3,700 Illini fans, the No. 3 seeded and ranked Illinois volleyball team earned its second-straight trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and ninth in the last 11 seasons with a hard-fought 3-1 (25-22, 28-26, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Louisville on Saturday (December 1) night in Huff Hall.
The Illini improve to 30-3 on the season and push its winning streak a season-best 15 matches, while making their 18th NCAA Regional appearance in program history and the second in two seasons for head coach Chris Tamas.
As the No. 3 seeded team in the 2018 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, the Illini will host the Regional next Friday and Saturday (December 7-8) in Huff Hall, taking on No. 15 Marquette in the Regional Semifinal on Friday. No. 6 Wisconsin and San Diego will face off in the other semifinal, with the two Friday winners playing for a spot in the Final Four on Saturday. Match times are to be announced.
Junior Jacqueline Quade led the Illini with her 12th career double-double and eighth of the season with a team-high 14 kills to go along with 12 digs, while redshirt-junior Beth Prince added 10 kills on the night.
As a team, the Illini hit at a .281 attack percentage as senior Jordyn Poulter came within three blocks of a triple-double with 44 assists, 10 digs and equaled a season-high with seven blocks – including a career-high three solo stuffs.
The Illini block was dominate at the net as UI registered a season-high 19 blocks to Louisville's (22-9) five, with senior Ali Bastianelli posting a season-high 10 stuffs in the win, with junior Ashlyn Fleming adding six blocks and sophomore Megan Cooney contributing five on the night.
Sophomore Morgan O'Brien led the Illini floor defense with a match-high 25 digs as the Cardinals were held to a .075 team hitting percentage.
The Illini jumped out to an early 7-3 edge in the opening set as a one-handed O'Brien dig turned into a Poulter setter dump, before an ace from freshman Taylor Kuper pushed the score to 12-8. Four-straight Cardinal scores knotted things at 12-12, but back-to-back errors from the visitors gave the Illini a 17-14 advantage midway through the first. UL again tied the score at 19-19, but UI responded with a 4-1 run to pull ahead at 23-20. Back-to-back Cardinal points cut the edge to one at 23-22, but a Poulter solo block, followed by a Prince kill finished off the first, 25-22.
Following an early 4-4 tie in the second, the Cardinals grabbed a 9-5 lead on a service ace and continued to lead throughout much of the period. The Illini closed the deficit to two on five occasions, before taking an 18-17 lead on four-straight points following a Quade and Bastianelli block. UL answered back with a 4-1 run to retake a 21-19 advantage, but the Illini fought back to knot the score at 22-22 on a Poulter ace. The Illini earned a pair of set points, but the Cardinals scored four of the final five points to even the match with the 28-26 set win.
In another back-and-forth start, the Illini broke a 6-6 tie in the third with eight-unanswered points – including three Prince kills and seven points on the Poulter serve – to take control at 14-6. The Cardinals responded with a 4-0 run of their own to close within 15-11, but four-straight Illini scores stalled the rally, capped by a Bastianelli and Cooney stuff for the 19-11 Illini lead. The two teams then traded scores before Fleming combined with Prince for the set-winning block at 25-17.
Looking to shut the door on the visitors, the Illini raced out to a 10-4 advantage in the fourth following a Bastianelli kill. Louisville responded to close within 13-9 with back-to-back kills, but a 7-2 run propelled the home team to a 20-11 lead. Leading by eight at 22-14 after a UL attack error, the Cardinals notched three-straight points to cut the deficit to 23-17, but back-to-back Illini scores set up match point at 24-17 as a Cooney kill sent the Orange and Blue to the Sweet 16 with the 25-18 fourth set victory.
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